Ohio University nears 'fiscal cliff' of its own

Friday

Nov 16, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 16, 2012 at 11:10 AM

Like almost every other public college in the country, Ohio University is caught on the horns of a dilemma, officials told school trustees yesterday. And because the state and the public demand access to a high-quality education - but don't want to pay for it through increasing taxes or tuition - the university is being pushed closer to a fiscal cliff.

Encarnacion Pyle, The Columbus Dispatch

Like almost every other public college in the country, Ohio University is caught on the horns of a dilemma, officials told school trustees yesterday.

And because the state and the public demand access to a high-quality education - but don't want to pay for it through increasing taxes or tuition - the university is being pushed closer to a fiscal cliff.

The university can't continue to rely on tuition increases, especially as the economy continues to struggle, Stephen T. Golding, OU's vice president for finance and administration, told trustees during a special presentation about the school's financial outlook.

OU undergraduate students already pay $10,216 a year in in-state tuition and fees, and graduates are leaving the school with an average of $26,909 in student loans. Burdening them further without looking for other ways to raise money or cut expenses would be irresponsible, he said.

The school also can't count on the state to suddenly increase its support for higher education, Golding said. State support for instruction per student has dropped by $1,012 (from $5,551 to $4,539) since 2001, and probably will continue to fall.

"Going forward, state funding - continuing on current trends - will be zero by 2039," Golding told trustees, referring to recent projections by Thomas Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, D.C.

Ohio University has lost so much state funding over the years, Golding said, it can't add enough new students or cut enough money to make up for the gap. That's why he and Provost Pam Benoit said the school needs to start looking for creative solutions. They raised two possibilities with the board:

• Charging different tuition rates based on a student's major, program or college, taking into consideration the average starting salary for graduates and student-debt load, and how much competing schools charge for their programs.

• Setting a single tuition rate for students for four years of study under a "guaranteed-tuition" program.

A growing number of schools nationwide have been moving to differential tuitions, Benoit said, especially charging more for business, engineering and nursing programs. But critics say this approach encourages students to pick majors because they think they will lead to higher-paying jobs instead of choosing a field about which they are passionate.

More colleges also are adopting a guaranteed-tuition program, she said. Students and parents often like the predictability of knowing what tuition will be for all four years, Benoit said. But schools have to be extremely careful not to overestimate or underestimate their costs.

Student Senate President Zachary George praised OU officials for trying to "step in front of the problem." "We don't want to see tuition go up, but at the same time, state support for higher education is rapidly declining," he said.

The trustees didn't take any action yesterday. But several members asked questions about the proposals and said they are interested in learning more about each possibility in the coming months as they start to think about how to handle next year's budget.

The board also talked about how Ohio University can save money by freeing up core campus space for academic programs and student services and by moving administrative and other offices that don't require easy access for students to the perimeter of campus, which is cheaper to operate and maintain.

epyle@dispatch.com

@EncarnitaPyle

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